Harry Holiday - 1943 Swim Season

1943 Swim Season

In a January 1943 meet against Ohio State, Holiday finished three quarters of a length ahead of the nearest competitor in the 150-yard backstroke with a time of 1:35.9, one second ahead of the conference record. He also broke the world record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.3 seconds, won the 50-yard freestyle, and swam the winning leg of the 300-yard medley relay.

In early February 1943, Holiday received word that his U.S. Army reserve unit would be called to active duty in June. In a meet against Michigan State in February 1943, he set more records, including an NCAA record for the 150-yard backstroke (1:31.4). He also swam his leg of the 300-yard medley in a time of 56.9, three tenths of a second under the world record.

At the Big Ten meet in March 1943, he swam the 150-yard backstroke in 1:31.7 to set a conference and NCAA mark. He also paced the U-M team to an NCAA record in the 300-yard medley.

At the National AAU swimming championship in April 1943, Holiday finally went head-to-head with world-record holder Adolph Kiefer. Holiday beat Kiefer in the 150-yard backstroke at the AAU meet. The defeat was the first for Kiefer in eight years.

In his first two months of varsity competition, Holiday broke two of Adolph Kiefer’s world records, lowing the 100-yard backstroke mark to 57 seconds and the 200-meter standard to 2:22.9. In August 1943, the NCAA also recognized Holiday as the holder of the new world record in the 150-yard backstroke with a mark of 1:31.5.